This Weekend in Sports: London Olympics Opening Ceremony and More

The Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London highlights the TV sports offerings this weekend. Here’s what else to watch this weekend in sports:

Friday, July 27

Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony

Olympic Stadium; London, England; 7:30 p.m.; NBC-TV

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London will officially start on Friday with the pageantry of the Opening Ceremony. The festivities start at 4 p.m., but will be aired on Friday night in the U.S.

Envisioned and directed by Danny Boyle, the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Games is entitled ‘Isles of Wonder.’ The event starts with the largest harmonically tuned bell in Europe ringing out over an Olympic Stadium that has been turned into a British countryside complete with real farmyard animals.

Highlights include the Parade of Athletes, a speech by UK running legend Sebastian Coe, the igniting of the Cauldron with the Olympic Flame and more than 15,000 performers.

Saturday, July 28

2012 Summer Olympics

London, England; 7:30 p.m.; NBC-TV

Aired on delay, the first night of Olympic programming will feature the men’s and women’s 400 meter individual medley, men’s team gymnastics and women’s beach volleyball.

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants

AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA; 4:05 p.m. (EDT); FOX-TV

The top two teams in the National League West will play the middle game of their three-game series on Fox’s ‘Game of the Week.’ Los Angeles (53-46) starts Chad Billingsley (5-9, 4.15) against a Giants’ lineup led by Melky Cabrera, who was hitting .356 as of Thursday. First-place San Francisco (55-43) will send a resurgent Barry Zito (8-6, 3.75) to the mound to stop a Dodgers lineup that features Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier.

Robert Guerrero vs. Selcuk Aydin

HP Pavilion, San Jose, CA; 10 p.m. (EDT); Showtime-TV

The WBC interim welterweight title is on the line in Northern California as Robert Guerrero takes on Selcuk Aydin. Aydin (23-0, 17 KOs) is undefeated and as tough a fighter as there is in the division. Robert Guerrero (29-1-1, 18 KO) can take a punch, but he must prove he’s strong enough to put Aydin away.

Sunday, July 29

2012 Summer Olympics — Men’s Basketball: USA vs. France

London, England; 9:30 a.m.; NBC Sports Network-TV

LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant lead the U.S. men’s basketball team against France. As usual, the Americans are the overwhelming favorite to come home with a gold medal.

The Curtiss Shaver 400 at The Brickyard

NASCAR’s best drivers return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, better known as ‘The Brickyard’ to racing fans — for an important Sunday race. Matt Kenseth is still leading the Sprint Cup points standings, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle are closing. Last year’s winner Paul Menard could challenge for the race victory, but he’s 15th in the overall standings.

2012 Summer Olympics

London, England; 7:30 p.m.; NBC-TV

Aired on delay, the second night of Olympic programming will feature women’s gymnastics, as well as men’s and women’s swimming and diving.

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

Yankee Stadium, New York, NY; 8:05 p.m. (EDT); ESPN-TV

The Boston Red Sox (49-50) are still very much in contention for one of the two American League Wild Card spots. They’ll send Felix Doubront (10-5, 4.54) out to pitch against newly acquired outfielder Ichiro Suzuki and the rest of the Yankees’ lineup on ESPN’s ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ game. New York (59-39) will counter with Hiroki Kuroda (10-7, 3.34), who will try to keep Cody Ross, Will Middlebrooks and the Red Sox from piling up the runs. Each team is without a key slugger: New York’s Alex Rodriguez is out with a broken left hand, while Boston’s David Ortiz has a right Achilles strain.